Moving picture coding method and moving picture decoding method

ABSTRACT

A moving picture coding apparatus includes a co-located block information determination unit which determines which one of a forward reference block and a backward reference block will be a co-located block and further determines whether only the unidirectional motion vector of the motion vectors of the co-located block is to be stored in a colPic memory, a temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit which derives a candidate motion vector predictor in temporal motion vector predictor mode using the colPic information stored in the colPic memory; and an inter prediction control unit which determines to code a motion vector using a candidate motion vector predictor having least error from the motion vector derived by motion estimation among candidate motion vector predictors.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a moving picture coding method and amoving picture decoding method.

BACKGROUND ART

In coding processing of moving pictures, an amount of information isgenerally reduced using redundancy of the moving pictures in spatial andtemporal directions. Here, a general method using the redundancy in thespatial direction is represented by the transformation into frequencydomain while a general method using the redundancy in the temporaldirection is represented by inter-picture prediction (hereinafter,referred to as inter prediction) coding process. In the inter predictioncoding process, when coding a certain picture, a coded picture locatedbefore or after the current picture to be coded in display time order isused as a reference picture. Subsequently, a motion vector of thecurrent picture with respect to the reference picture is derived bymotion estimation, and a difference between image data of the currentpicture and prediction image data resulting from motion compensationbased on the motion vector is calculated to remove the redundancy in thetemporal direction. Here, in the motion estimation, a difference valuebetween a current block to be coded in the current picture and a blockin the reference picture is calculated, and a block having the smallestdifference value in the reference picture is determined as a referenceblock. The motion vector is then estimated using the current block andthe reference block.

In the moving picture coding scheme referred to as H.264, which hasalready been standardized, three types of pictures: I-picture;P-picture; and B-picture, are used to reduce the amount of information.The I-picture is a picture on which no inter prediction coding processis performed, that is, on which a coding process using intra-pictureprediction (hereinafter, referred to as intra prediction) is performed.The P-picture is a picture on which the inter prediction coding isperformed with reference to one coded picture located before or afterthe current picture in display time order. The B-picture is a picture onwhich the inter prediction coding is performed with reference to twocoded pictures located before or after the current picture in displaytime order.

Furthermore, in the moving picture coding scheme referred to as H.264,as an inter prediction coding mode for each block in the B picture,there is a motion vector estimation mode in which (i) a difference valuebetween prediction image data and image data of a current block and (ii)a motion vector used for generating the prediction image data are coded.In the motion vector estimation mode, bidirectional prediction orunidirectional prediction can be selected as a prediction direction. Inthe bidirectional prediction, a prediction image is generated byreferring to two coded pictures located before or after the currentpicture. In the unidirectional prediction, a prediction image isgenerated by referring to one coded picture located before or after thecurrent picture.

Furthermore, in the moving picture coding scheme referred to as H.264, acoding mode referred to as a temporal motion vector predictor mode canbe selected to derive a motion vector in coding the B-picture. Adescription is given of an inter prediction coding method in thetemporal motion vector predictor mode, referring to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is aschematic diagram showing motion vectors in the temporal motion vectorpredictor mode, and illustrates a case where a block “a” of a picture B2is coded in the temporal motion vector predictor mode. In this case, amotion vector “a” is used which has been used to code a block “b”,co-located with the block “a”, in a picture P3 serving as a referencepicture located after the picture B2. The motion vector “a” is a motionvector which has been used to code the block “b” and refers to a pictureP1. The block “a” is coded using bidirectional prediction with referenceto reference blocks which are obtained, using motion vectors parallel tothe motion vector “a”, from the picture P1 serving as a forwardreference picture and the picture P3 serving as a backward referencepicture. More specifically, the motion vectors used in coding the block“a” are the motion vector “b” for the picture P1 and a motion vector “c”for the picture P3.

CITATION LIST Non Patent Literature

[NPL 1]

-   ITU-T Recommendation H.264 “Advanced video coding for generic    audiovisual services”, March 2010

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

However, in the conventional temporal motion vector predictor mode, itis necessary to store motion vectors to be used for calculating atemporal motion vector predictor into a memory in advance. For example,when all blocks in the reference picture P3 in FIG. 1 are coded by usingbidirectional prediction, each coded block includes at least two motionvectors. Hence, storing all the motion vectors of the reference picturesfor calculating a temporal motion vector predictor requires ahigh-capacity memory and a greater memory bandwidth.

In view of this, the present invention has an object to provide a movingpicture coding method and a moving picture decoding method which allow areduction in necessary memory capacity and necessary bandwidth in thetemporal motion vector predictor mode, by using new criteria forappropriately controlling motion vector information to be stored in thememory.

Solution to Problem

In order to achieve the object, the moving picture coding methodaccording to the present invention is a moving picture coding method ofcoding a current block included in a current picture using a referencemotion vector of a reference block included in a reference picturedifferent from the current picture, the reference block beingco-located, in the reference picture, with the current block in thecurrent picture. The moving picture coding method includes: determininga value of a predetermined flag which indicates whether or not referenceblock information is to be read from a memory, the reference blockinformation including, among reference motion vectors of the referenceblock in a first prediction direction and a second prediction direction,the reference motion vector in the first prediction direction; reading,from the memory, the reference block information including the referencemotion vector according to the value of the predetermined flag; coding amotion vector of the current block using the read reference blockinformation; writing, to the memory, the reference block informationincluding the motion vector of the current block according to the valueof the predetermined flag; and adding the predetermined flag to abitstream.

Furthermore, it may be that the memory includes a first storage area forstoring the reference block information of the first predictiondirection, and a second storage area for storing the reference blockinformation of the second prediction direction, and in the reading, whenthe predetermined flag indicates ON, the reference block informationincluding the reference motion vector is read from the first storagearea, and when the predetermined flag indicates OFF, the reference blockinformation including the reference motion vector is read from the firststorage area and the second storage area.

Furthermore, it may be that the memory includes a first storage area forstoring the reference block information of the first predictiondirection, and a second storage area for storing the reference blockinformation of the second prediction direction, and in the writing, whenthe predetermined flag indicates ON, and (i) when the current blockincludes at least one reference motion vector in the first predictiondirection, the reference block information including the referencemotion vector in the first prediction direction is written to the firststorage area, and (ii) when the current block includes only thereference motion vector in the second prediction direction, thereference block information including the reference motion vector in thesecond prediction direction is written to the first storage area.

Furthermore, it may be that the memory includes a first storage area forstoring the reference block information of the first predictiondirection, and a second storage area for storing the reference blockinformation of the second prediction direction, and in the writing, whenthe predetermined flag indicates OFF, and (i) when the current blockincludes the reference motion vector in the first prediction direction,the reference block information including the reference motion vector inthe first prediction direction is written to the first storage area, and(ii) when the current block includes the reference motion vector in thesecond prediction direction, the reference block information includingthe reference motion vector in the second prediction direction iswritten to the second storage area.

Furthermore, it may be that when the reference block includes two ormore reference motion vectors, the coding includes: selecting one of thetwo or more reference motion vectors based on whether the referencepicture is located before or after the current picture; and coding themotion vector of the current block using the selected reference motionvector.

Furthermore, it may be that in the selecting, when the reference blockincludes a forward reference motion vector and a backward referencemotion vector, and (i) when the current block is located before thereference block, the forward reference motion vector is selected fromthe forward reference motion vector and the backward reference motionvector, and (ii) when the current block is located after the referenceblock, the backward reference motion vector is selected from the forwardreference motion vector and the backward reference motion vector.

Furthermore, it may be that in the selecting, when the reference blockincludes one of a forward reference motion vector and a backwardreference motion vector, the one of the forward reference motion vectorand the backward reference motion vector in the reference block isselected regardless of a positional relation between the reference blockand the current block.

Furthermore, the moving picture decoding method according to the presentinvention is a moving picture decoding method of decoding a currentblock included in a current picture using a reference motion vector of areference block included in a reference picture different from thecurrent picture, the reference block being co-located, in the referencepicture, with the current block in the current picture. The movingpicture decoding method includes: decoding a value of a predeterminedflag which indicates whether or not reference block information is to beread from a memory, the reference block information including, amongreference motion vectors of the reference block in a first predictiondirection and a second prediction direction, the reference motion vectorin the first prediction direction; reading, from the memory, thereference block information including the reference motion vectoraccording to the value of the predetermined flag; decoding a motionvector of the current block using the read reference block information;and writing, to the memory, the reference block information includingthe motion vector of the current block according to the value of thepredetermined flag.

Furthermore, it may be that the memory includes a first storage area forstoring the reference block information of the first predictiondirection, and a second storage area for storing the reference blockinformation of the second prediction direction, and in the reading, whenthe predetermined flag indicates ON, the reference block informationincluding the reference motion vector is read from the first storagearea, and when the predetermined flag indicates OFF, the reference blockinformation including the reference motion vector is read from the firststorage area and the second storage area.

Furthermore, it may be that the memory includes a first storage area forstoring the reference block information of the first predictiondirection, and a second storage area for storing the reference blockinformation of the second prediction direction, and in the writing, whenthe predetermined flag indicates ON, and (i) when the current blockincludes at least one reference motion vector in the first predictiondirection, the reference block information including the referencemotion vector in the first prediction direction is written to the firststorage area, and (ii) when the current block includes only thereference motion vector in the second prediction direction, thereference block information including the reference motion vector in thesecond prediction direction is written to the first storage area.

Furthermore, it may be that the memory includes a first storage area forstoring the reference block information of the first predictiondirection, and a second storage area for storing the reference blockinformation of the second prediction direction, and in the writing, whenthe predetermined flag indicates OFF, and (i) when the current blockincludes the reference motion vector in the first prediction direction,the reference block information including the reference motion vector inthe first prediction direction is written to the first storage area, and(ii) when the current block includes the reference motion vector in thesecond prediction direction, the reference block information includingthe reference motion vector in the second prediction direction iswritten to the second storage area.

Furthermore, it may be that when the reference block includes two ormore reference motion vectors, the decoding includes: selecting one ofthe reference motion vectors based on whether the reference picture islocated before or after the current picture; and decoding the motionvector of the current block using the selected reference motion vector.

Furthermore, it may be that in the selecting, when the reference blockincludes a forward reference motion vector and a backward referencemotion vector, and (i) when the current block is located before thereference block, the forward reference motion vector is selected fromthe forward reference motion vector and the backward reference motionvector, and (ii) when the current block is located after the referenceblock, the backward reference motion vector is selected from the forwardreference motion vector and the backward reference motion vector.

Furthermore, it may be that in the selecting, when the reference blockincludes one of a forward reference motion vector and a backwardreference motion vector, the one of the forward reference motion vectorand the backward reference motion vector in the reference block isselected regardless of a positional relation between the reference blockand the current block.

It is to be noted that the present invention can be realized not only asthe moving picture coding method and the moving picture decoding methodbut also as a moving picture coding apparatus and a moving picturedecoding apparatus having, as units, the characteristics steps includedin the moving picture coding method and the moving picture decodingmethod. The present invention can be also realized as a program causinga computer to execute the steps. Such a program can be realized as acomputer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or as information,data, or a signal indicating the program. The program, the information,the data, or the signal may be distributed via a communication networksuch as the Internet.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce necessarymemory capacity and necessary bandwidth in the temporal motion vectorpredictor mode by using new criteria for appropriately controllingmotion vector information to be stored in the memory in the temporalmotion vector predictor mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing motion vectors in temporal direct.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment of amoving picture coding apparatus using a moving picture coding methodaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of a process flow of the moving picture codingmethod according to the present invention.

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an example of candidate motion vectorpredictors.

FIG. 4B is a table showing an example of a method of assigning a motionvector predictor index.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a table used in performing variable-lengthcoding on a motion vector predictor index.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of determining a candidate motionvector predictor in an inter prediction control unit according toEmbodiment 1.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of processing for reading and writingfrom and to a colPic memory.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed process flow of step S101 shownin FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed process flow of step S102 shownin FIG. 3.

FIG. 10A is a diagram showing an example of a method of deriving acandidate motion vector predictor in a temporal motion vector predictormode.

FIG. 10B is a diagram showing another example of a method of deriving acandidate motion vector predictor in the temporal motion vectorpredictor mode.

FIG. 11A is a diagram showing another example of a method of deriving acandidate motion vector predictor in the temporal motion vectorpredictor mode.

FIG. 11B is a diagram showing another example of a method of deriving acandidate motion vector predictor in the temporal motion vectorpredictor mode.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a detailed process flow of step S104shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment ofa moving picture decoding apparatus using a moving picture decodingmethod according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 shows an outline of a process flow of the moving picturedecoding method according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows an overall configuration of a content providing system forimplementing content distribution services.

FIG. 16 shows an overall configuration of a digital broadcasting system.

FIG. 17 shows a block diagram illustrating an example of a configurationof a television.

FIG. 18 shows a block diagram illustrating an example of a configurationof an information reproducing/recording unit that reads and writesinformation from and on a recording medium that is an optical disk.

FIG. 19 shows an example of a configuration of a recording medium thatis an optical disk.

FIG. 20A shows an example of a cellular phone.

FIG. 20B is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of acellular phone.

FIG. 21 illustrates a structure of the multiplexed data.

FIG. 22 schematically shows how each stream is multiplexed inmultiplexed data.

FIG. 23 shows how a video stream is stored in a stream of PES packets inmore detail.

FIG. 24 shows a structure of TS packets and source packets in themultiplexed data.

FIG. 25 shows a data structure of a PMT.

FIG. 26 shows an internal structure of multiplexed data information.

FIG. 27 shows an internal structure of stream attribute information.

FIG. 28 shows steps for identifying video data.

FIG. 29 shows an example of a configuration of an integrated circuit forimplementing the moving picture coding method and the moving picturedecoding method according to each of embodiments.

FIG. 30 shows a configuration for switching between driving frequencies.

FIG. 31 shows steps for identifying video data and switching betweendriving frequencies.

FIG. 32 shows an example of a look-up table in which video datastandards are associated with driving frequencies.

FIG. 33A is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for sharinga module of a signal processing unit.

FIG. 33B is a diagram showing another example of a configuration forsharing a module of the signal processing unit.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below withreference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment of amoving picture coding apparatus using a moving picture coding methodaccording to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, a moving picture coding apparatus 100 includes anorthogonal transform unit 101, a quantization unit 102, an inversequantization unit 103, an inverse orthogonal transform unit 104, a blockmemory 105, a frame memory 106, an intra prediction unit 107, an interprediction unit 108, an inter prediction control unit 109, a picturetype determination unit 110, a temporal motion vector predictorcalculation unit 111, a colPic memory 112, a co-located blockinformation determination unit 113, and a variable-length coding unit114.

The orthogonal transform unit 101 transforms an input image sequencefrom image domain into frequency domain. The quantization unit 102performs a quantization process on the input image sequence transformedinto the frequency domain. The inverse quantization unit 103 performs aninverse quantization process on the input image sequence on which thequantization unit 102 has performed the quantization process. Theinverse orthogonal transform unit 104 transforms, from frequency domaininto image domain, the input image sequence on which the inversequantization process has been performed. The block memory 105 stores theinput image sequence in units of blocks. The frame memory 106 stores theinput image sequence in units of frames. The picture type determinationunit 110 determines which one of the picture types, I-picture,B-picture, and P-picture, is used to code the input image sequence, andgenerates picture type information. The intra prediction unit 107 codes,by intra prediction, the current block using the input image sequencestored in units of blocks in the block memory 105, to generateprediction image data. The inter prediction unit 108 codes, by interprediction, the current block using the input image stored in units offrames in the frame memory 106 and a motion vector derived by motionestimation, to generate prediction image data.

The co-located block information determination unit 113 determines whichone of a block included in a picture located before the current picturein display time order (hereinafter, referred to as a forward referenceblock) and a block included in a picture located after the currentpicture in display time order (hereinafter, referred to as a backwardreference block) will be a co-located block. The co-located blockinformation determination unit 113 generates a co-located referencedirection flag for each picture according to one of the forwardreference block and the backward reference block determined to be theco-located block, and adds the co-located reference direction flag tothe current picture. The co-located block information determination unit113 also determines whether or not only unidirectional motion vector outof the motion vectors of the co-located block is to be stored in thecolPic memory. The co-located block information determination unit 113generates, for each picture, a co-located block unidirectionalitystorage flag indicating whether or not only the unidirectional motionvector is to be stored in the colPic memory, and adds the co-locatedblock unidirectionality storage flag to the current picture. Here, theco-located block indicates a block which is included in a picturedifferent from a picture including the current block and whose positionin the picture is the same as that of the current block.

The temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111 derives acandidate motion vector predictor (a temporal motion vector predictor)in the temporal motion vector predictor mode, using colPic informationsuch as a motion vector of the co-located block stored in the colPicmemory 112. The temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111also assigns a motion vector predictor index value corresponding to thetemporal motion vector predictor. The temporal motion vector predictorcalculation unit 111 transmits the temporal motion vector predictor andthe motion vector predictor index to the inter prediction control unit109. When the co-located block includes no motion vector, the temporalmotion vector predictor calculation unit 111 stops the derivation of amotion vector in the temporal motion vector predictor mode, or derives acandidate motion vector predictor (a temporal motion vector predictor)assuming that the motion vector is 0.

The inter prediction control unit 109 determines to code the motionvector using, among candidate motion vector predictors, a candidatemotion vector predictor having the least error from the motion vectorderived by the motion estimation. Here, an error indicates a differencevalue between each of the candidate motion vector predictors and themotion vector derived by the motion estimation. Moreover, the interprediction control unit 109 generates, for each block, a motion vectorpredictor index corresponding to the motion vector predictor for whichthe determination is made. Furthermore, the inter prediction controlunit 109 transmits, to the variable-length coding unit 114, the motionvector predictor index and error information indicating the errorbetween the candidate motion vector predictor and the motion vector.Furthermore, the inter prediction control unit 109 transfers, to thecolPic memory 112, colPic information including the motion vector of thecurrent block and others.

The orthogonal transform unit 101 transforms, from image domain intofrequency domain, prediction error data between generated predictionimage data and the input image sequence. The quantization unit 102performs a quantization process on the prediction error data transformedinto the frequency domain. The variable-length coding unit 114 generatesa bitstream by performing a variable-length coding process on theprediction error data on which the quantization process has beenperformed, the motion vector predictor index, error information on thecandidate motion vector predictor, the picture type information, theco-located reference direction flag, and the co-located blockunidirectionality storage flag.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of a process flow of the moving picture codingmethod according to the present invention. The co-located blockinformation determination unit 113 determines co-located blockinformation, such as the co-located reference direction flag and theco-located block unidirectionality storage flag, by a method that willbe described later, when deriving a candidate motion vector predictor inthe temporal motion vector predictor mode (Step S101). The temporalmotion vector predictor calculation unit 111 reads, from the colPicmemory, colPic information including a reference motion vector of aco-located block and others according to the co-located blockinformation, and derives a candidate motion vector predictor (a temporalmotion vector predictor) in the temporal motion vector predictor modeusing the reference motion vector of the co-located block (Step S102).Furthermore, the temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111assigns a motion vector predictor index value corresponding to thetemporal motion vector predictor. In general, when the motion vectorpredictor index Indicates a smaller value, a required amount ofinformation decreases. In contrast, when the value increases, a requiredamount of information increases. Thus, decreasing the value of themotion vector predictor index increases coding efficiency. Here, themotion vector predictor index corresponds to a motion vector that islikely to be a motion vector with high accuracy. The inter predictioncontrol unit 109 codes a picture by inter prediction using the motionvector derived by the motion estimation (Step S103). Moreover, the interprediction control unit 109 codes the motion vector using, amongcandidate motion vector predictors, a motion vector predictor having theleast error. For example, it is determined that, assuming that adifference value between each of the candidate motion vector predictorsand the motion vector derived by the motion estimation is an error, thecandidate motion vector predictor having the least error is used incoding the motion vector. Then, the inter prediction control unit 109outputs, to the variable-length coding unit 114, a motion vectorpredictor index corresponding to the determined candidate motion vectorpredictor and error information on the determined motion vectorpredictor for performing variable-length coding. Next, the interprediction control unit 109 transfers, by using a method to be describedlater, colPic information including the motion vector used for interprediction and others to the colPic memory 112 for storage (Step S104).The colPic memory 112 stores motion vectors and index values ofreference pictures, prediction direction and others for calculating atemporal motion vector predictor for a current block.

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an example of candidate motion vectorpredictors. A motion vector A (MV_A) is a motion vector of an adjacentblock A located to the left of a current block. A motion vector B (MV_B)is a motion vector of an adjacent block B located on top of the currentblock. A motion vector C (MV_C) is a motion vector of an adjacent blockC located to the upper right of the current block. Median (MV_A, MV_B,MV_C) indicates a median value among the motion vectors A, B, and C.Here, the median value is calculated by the following (Equation 1) to(Equation 3).

$\begin{matrix}{\mspace{79mu}\left\lbrack {{Math}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right\rbrack} & \; \\{{{Median}\left( {x,y,z} \right)} = {x + y + z - {{Min}\left( {x,{{Min}\left( {y,z} \right)}} \right)} - {{Max}\left( {x,{{Max}\left( {y,z} \right)}} \right)}}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right) \\{\mspace{79mu}{{{Min}\left( {x,y} \right)} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}x & \left( {x \leq y} \right) \\y & \left( {x > y} \right)\end{matrix} \right.}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2} \right) \\{\mspace{79mu}{{{Max}\left( {x,y} \right)} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}x & \left( {x \geq y} \right) \\y & \left( {x < y} \right)\end{matrix} \right.}} & \left( {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 3} \right)\end{matrix}$

FIG. 4B is a table showing an example of a method of assigning a motionvector predictor index. Among values of motion vector predictor indexes,a value corresponding to Median (MV_A, MV_B, MV_C) is 0, a valuecorresponding to the motion vector A is 1, a value corresponding to MV_Bis 2, a value corresponding to MV_C is 3, and a value corresponding to atemporal motion vector predictor is 4. The method of assigning a motionvector predictor index is not limited to this example.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a table used in performing variable-lengthcoding on a motion vector predictor index. A code having a shorter codelength is assigned to a motion vector predictor index having a smallervalue. As a result, it is possible to increase coding efficiency bydecreasing the value of a motion vector predictor index corresponding toa candidate motion vector predictor that is likely to have highprediction accuracy.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for determining a candidate motion vectorpredictor in the inter prediction control unit 109.

The inter prediction control unit 109 determines that a candidate motionvector predictor index mvp_idx is 0 and the least motion vector error is∞ (Step S201). The inter prediction control unit 109 determines whetheror not the candidate motion vector predictor index mvp_idx is smallerthan the number of candidate motion vector predictors (Step S202). Whenthe inter prediction control unit 109 determines that the candidatemotion vector predictor index mvp_idx is smaller than the number ofcandidate motion vector predictors (Yes in Step S202), the interprediction control unit 109 calculates a motion vector error from adifference between the motion vector derived by the motion estimationand the candidate motion vector predictor (Step S203). Next, the interprediction control unit 109 determines whether or not the calculatedmotion vector error is smaller than the least motion vector error (StepS204). When the inter prediction control unit 109 determines that themotion vector error is smaller than the least motion vector error (Yesin step S204), the inter prediction control unit 109 determines that theleast motion vector error is the calculated motion vector error and themotion vector predictor index is the candidate motion vector predictorindex mvp_idx (Step S205). The inter prediction control unit 109 addsthe value “1” to the candidate motion vector predictor index mvp_idx(Step S206), and the flow returns to step S202. When the interprediction control unit 109 determines in step S202 that the candidatemotion vector predictor index mvp_idx is not smaller than the number ofcandidate motion vector predictors (No in step S202), the interprediction control unit 109 outputs the least motion vector error andthe motion vector predictor index to the variable-length coding unit 114for performing variable-length coding (Step S207). As described above,according to the flow shown in FIG. 6, the candidate motion vectorpredictor having the least error from the motion vector derived by themotion estimation is determined to be used in coding the motion vector.Then, error information on the determined candidate motion vectorpredictor and the motion vector predictor index indicating thedetermined motion vector predictor are output to the variable-lengthcoding unit 114 for variable-length coding.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of processing for reading and writingfrom and to the colPic memory 112 shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 7, the motionvector mvCol1 in prediction direction 1 and the motion vector mvCol2 inprediction direction 2 of the co-located block of the co-located picturecolPic are stored in the colPic memory by a method to be describedlater, according to a co-located block unidirectionality storage flag.In this embodiment, a description is given of an example where theprediction direction 1 is forward reference and the prediction direction2 is backward reference. However, it may also be that the predictiondirection 1 is backward reference, the prediction direction 2 is forwardreference, or both of the prediction directions 1 and 2 are one offorward reference and backward reference. Furthermore, the co-locatedblock is a block whose position in the co-located picture colPiccorresponds to that of the current block in the current picture. Whetherthe co-located picture colPic is located after or before the currentpicture is switched by a co-located reference direction flag.Subsequently, when the current block is coded, colPic informationincluding a motion vector stored in the colPic memory and others is readaccording to the co-located block unidirectionality storage flag, and atemporal motion vector predictor is calculated. The calculated temporalmotion vector predictor is used for coding the current block.

The colPic memory includes an area for prediction direction 1(hereinafter, referred to as prediction-direction-1 area) and an areafor prediction direction 2 (hereinafter, referred to asprediction-direction-2 area). According to the co-located blockunidirectionality storage flag, colPic information including a motionvector in prediction direction 1 and others, and colPic informationincluding a motion vector in prediction direction 2 and others arestored in the corresponding areas. In this embodiment, the colPic memoryincludes the prediction-direction-1 area and the prediction-direction-2area. However, in the case where the co-located block unidirectionalitystorage flag always indicates ON, only the prediction-direction-1 areamay be prepared, leading to a reduction in the required capacity of thecolPic memory.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed process flow of step S101 shownin FIG. 3. A description of FIG. 8 is given below.

The co-located block information determination unit 113 determines whichone of the forward reference block and the backward reference block willbe the co-located block (Step S301). For example, of the forwardreference picture which includes the forward reference block and thebackward reference picture which includes the backward reference block,the co-located block information determination unit 113 may determinethe reference picture closer to the current picture in the displayorder, as the reference direction of the co-located block. Subsequently,the co-located block information determination unit 113 generates, foreach picture, the co-located reference direction flag indicating whetherthe co-located block is the forward reference block or the backwardreference block, and adds the generated co-located reference directionflag to the picture. Next, the co-located block informationdetermination unit 113 determines whether or not colPic information suchas a motion vector to be stored in the colPic memory is to be for theunidirectional motion vector (Step S302). For example, in the case wherethe memory bandwidth is decreased or the capacity of the coPic memory isdecreased to suppress delay, the colPic information such as a motionvector to be stored in the colPic memory may be limited to theunidirectional motion vector. The co-located block informationdetermination unit 113 then generates, for each picture, a co-locatedblock unidirectionality storage flag indicating that the colPicinformation including, for example, a motion vector to be stored in thecolPic memory is limited to the unidirectional motion vector, and addsthe generated flag to the picture.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed process flow of step S102 shownin FIG. 3. A description of FIG. 9 is given below.

The temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111 determineswhether or not the co-located block unidirectionality storage flagindicates ON (Step S401). When the determination shows that theco-located block unidirectionality storage flag indicates ON (Yes inStep S401), the temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111reads, from the prediction-direction-1 area of the colPic memory, colPicinformation including a reference motion vector and the like (StepS402). Next, the temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111determines whether or not the reference motion vector included in thecolPic information read from the colPic memory is available (Step S403).Here, the reference motion vector being available means that a referencemotion vector for calculating the temporal motion vector predictor ispresent. When the co-located block is intra coded, it is determined thatthe reference motion vector is not available. Here, when the referencemotion vector is available (Yes in Step S403), the temporal motionvector predictor calculation unit 111 calculates a temporal motionvector predictor using the reference motion vector (Step S404). Thetemporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111 then adds thecalculated temporal motion vector predictor to candidate motion vectorpredictors (Step S404). On the other hand, when the reference motionvector is not available (No in Step S403), the temporal motion vectorpredictor calculation unit 111 does not add the temporal motion vectorpredictor to candidate motion vector predictors, or adds, to thecandidate motion vector predictors, the temporal motion vector predictorof the co-located block assuming that the temporal motion vectorpredictor is 0 (Step S415).

Furthermore, when the determination in Step S401 shows that theco-located block unidirectionality storage flag indicates OFF (No inStep S401), the temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111reads, from the prediction-direction-1 area and theprediction-direction-2 area of the colPic memory, colPic informationincluding a reference motion vector in the prediction direction 1, areference motion vector in the prediction direction 2, and others (StepS406). Next, the temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111determines whether the co-located block in the colPic information hastwo or more motion vectors, that is, has at least the forward referencemotion vector (mvL0) and the backward reference motion vector (mvL1)(Step S407). When it is determined that the co-located block has two ormore motion vectors (Yes in Step S407), the temporal motion vectorpredictor calculation unit 111 determines whether or not the co-locatedblock is the backward reference block (Step S408). Here, when it isdetermined that the co-located block is the backward reference block(Yes in Step S408), the temporal motion vector predictor calculationunit 111 derives a temporal motion vector predictor in the temporalmotion vector predictor mode using the forward reference motion vectorof the co-located block (Step S409). On the other hand, when it isdetermined that the co-located block is the forward reference block (Noin Step S408), the temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111derives a temporal motion vector predictor in the temporal motion vectorpredictor mode using the backward reference motion vector of theco-located block (Step S410).

Furthermore, when it is determined in Step S407 that the co-locatedblock has only the forward reference motion vector or the backwardreference motion vector (No in Step S407), the temporal motion vectorpredictor calculation unit 111 determines whether or not the co-locatedblock has the forward reference motion vector (Step S411). When it isdetermined in Step S411 that the co-located block has the forwardreference motion vector (Yes in Step S411), the temporal motion vectorpredictor calculation unit 111 derives a temporal motion vectorpredictor of the current block using the forward reference motion vectorof the co-located block (Step S412). On the other hand, when it isdetermined in Step S411 that the co-located block has no forwardreference motion vector (No in Step S411), the temporal motion vectorpredictor calculation unit 111 determines whether or not the co-locatedblock has the backward reference motion vector (Step S413). Here, whenit is determined in Step S413 that the co-located block has the backwardreference motion vector, the temporal motion vector predictorcalculation unit 111 derives a temporal motion vector predictor of thecurrent block using the backward reference motion vector (Step S414). Onthe other hand, when it is determined in Step S413 that the co-locatedblock has no backward reference motion vector (No in Step S413), thetemporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 111 does not add thetemporal motion vector predictor to candidate motion vector predictors,or adds, to candidate motion vector predictors, the temporal motionvector predictor of the co-located block assuming that the temporalmotion vector predictor is 0 (Step S415).

In the process flow of FIG. 9, it is determined in Step S411 whether ornot the co-located block has the forward reference motion vector, and itis determined in Step S413 whether or not the co-located block has thebackward reference motion vector, but the present invention is notlimited to this flow. For example, whether or not the co-located blockhas the forward reference motion vector may be determined afterdetermining whether or not the co-located block has the backwardreference motion vector.

Next, a detailed description is given of a method of deriving a temporalmotion vector predictor in the temporal prediction motion vector mode.

FIG. 10A shows a method of deriving a candidate motion vector predictor(a temporal motion vector predictor) in the temporal motion vectorpredictor mode using the forward reference motion vector, when theco-located block is the backward reference block and has the forwardreference motion vector and the backward reference motion vector. Usingthe forward reference motion vector, a candidate motion vector predictor(TemporalMV) is derived by the following equation:TemporalMV=mvL0×(B2−B0)/(B4−B0)  (Equation 4)

Here, (B2−B0) represents information on a time difference in displaytime between a picture B2 and a picture B0, and (B4−B0) representsinformation on a time difference in display time between a picture B4and the picture B0.

FIG. 10B shows the method of deriving a candidate motion vectorpredictor (a temporal motion vector predictor) in the temporal motionvector predictor mode using the backward reference motion vector. Usingthe backward reference motion vector, the candidate motion vectorpredictor is derived by the following equation:TemporalMV=mvL1×(B2−B0)/(B4−B8)  (Equation 5)

FIG. 11A shows the method of deriving a candidate motion vectorpredictor (a temporal motion vector predictor) in the temporal motionvector predictor mode using the backward reference motion vector whenthe co-located block is the forward reference block and has the forwardreference motion vector and the backward reference motion vector. Usingthe backward reference motion vector, the candidate motion vectorpredictor is derived by the following equation:TemporalMV=mvL1×(B6−B8)/(B4−B8)  (Equation 6)

FIG. 11B shows the method of deriving a candidate motion vectorpredictor (a temporal motion vector predictor) in the temporal motionvector predictor mode using the forward reference motion vector. Usingthe backward reference motion vector, the candidate motion vectorpredictor is derived by the following equation:TemporalMV=mvL0×(B6−B8)/(B4−B0)  (Equation 7)

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a detailed process flow of step S104shown in FIG. 3. A description of FIG. 12 is given below.

The inter prediction control unit 109 determines whether or not theco-located block unidirectionality storage flag indicates ON (StepS501). When it is determined that the co-located block unidirectionalitystorage flag indicates ON (Yes in Step S501), the inter predictioncontrol unit 109 determines whether or not the motion vector (vectors)used for inter prediction of the current block includes the motionvector in the prediction direction 1 (Step S502). More specifically, theinter prediction control unit 109 determines whether the current blockhas been inter coded in the prediction direction 1 or bidirectionalprediction. Here, when the motion vector used for the inter predictionincludes the motion vector in the prediction direction 1 (Yes in StepS502), the inter prediction control unit 109 transfers, as colPicinformation, information including, for example, the motion vector inthe prediction direction 1 to the prediction-direction-1 area of thecolPic memory, and store the information (Step S503). On other hand,when the motion vector used for the inter prediction does not includethe motion vector in the prediction direction 1 (No in Step S502), theinter prediction control unit 109 determines whether or not the motionvector used for the inter prediction of the current block includes themotion vector in the prediction direction 2 (Step S504). Morespecifically, the inter prediction control unit 109 determines whetherthe current block has been inter coded in the prediction direction 2.When it is determined that the motion vector used for the interprediction includes the motion vector in the prediction direction 2 (Yesin Step S504), the inter prediction control unit 109 transfers, ascolPic information, information including the motion vector in theprediction direction 2 and others to the prediction-direction 1 area ofthe colPic memory, and store the information (Step S505). On the otherhand, when the motion vector used for the inter prediction does notinclude the motion vector in the prediction direction 2 (No in StepS504), the inter prediction control unit 109 does not transfer thecolPic information to the colPic memory (Step S506).

When it is determined in Step S501 that the co-located blockunidirectionality storage flag indicates OFF (No in Step S501), theinter prediction control unit 109 transfers, as colPic information,information including the motion vectors in the prediction direction 1and the prediction direction 2 and others, to the prediction-direction-1area and the prediction-direction-2 area of the colPic memory, andstores the information (Step S507). More specifically, when theco-located block unidirectionality storage flag indicates ON, the interprediction control unit 109 stores information including the motionvector of the current block in the prediction direction 1 or theprediction direction 2 and others in the prediction-direction-1 area ofthe colPic memory. When the co-located block unidirectionality storageflag indicates OFF, the inter prediction control unit 109 storesinformation including the motion vectors of the prediction direction 1and the prediction direction 2 and others, in the prediction-direction-1area and the prediction-direction-2 area in the colPic memory.

In this embodiment, in Step S506 in FIG. 12, colPic information is nottransferred to the colPic memory; however, it may be that colPicinformation is transferred which includes information indicating thatthe motion vector in each prediction direction of the current block isnot available.

Accordingly, the present invention uses new criteria for appropriatelycontrolling motion vector information to be stored in the memory in thetemporal motion vector predictor mode. This allows a reduction in thenecessary memory capacity and necessary bandwidth in the temporal motionvector predictor mode.

More specifically, when the co-located block unidirectionality storageflag indicates ON, information including the motion vector of thecurrent block in the prediction direction 1 or the prediction direction2 and others is stored in the prediction-direction-1 area of the colPicmemory. For obtaining a temporal motion vector predictor, control ismade such that the colPic information is read from theprediction-direction-1 area of the colPic memory. Furthermore, when theco-located block unidirectionality storage flag indicates OFF,information including the motion vectors in the prediction direction 1and the prediction direction 2 and others is stored in theprediction-direction-1 area and the prediction-direction-2 area of thecolPic memory. For obtaining a temporal motion vector predictor, areference motion vector most suitable for the current block can beselected according to the co-located reference direction flag. As aresult, it is possible to increase the compression rate. In particular,when the co-located block is a forward reference block, the use of thebackward reference motion vector allows a reduction in the predictionerror. The backward reference motion vector is a motion vector directedfrom a picture including the co-located block to a picture including thecurrent block, and has a higher probability of approximating the mostsuitable motion vector, which reduces the prediction error. On the otherhand, the forward reference motion vector is a motion vector in adirection opposite to the direction from the picture including theco-located block to the picture including the current block, and has alower probability of approximating the most suitable motion vector,which increases the prediction error. Likewise, also in the case wherethe co-located block is a backward reference block, the prediction errorcan be reduced because the use of the forward reference motion vectorleads to a higher probability of approximating the most suitable motionvector.

In this embodiment, when the co-located block has two or more motionvectors, the motion vector of the co-located block to be used forcalculating the temporal motion vector predictor of the current block ischanged according to whether the co-located block is a backwardreference block or a forward reference block. It may also be that thetemporal motion vector predictor is calculated using the motion vectorwhich refers to a reference picture that is temporally close to thepicture which includes the co-located block (motion vector which has ashort temporal distance). Here, for example, the temporal distance isdetermined according to the number of pictures in display time orderbetween the picture including the co-located block and the referencepicture to which the co-located block refers.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the co-located block has two ormore motion vectors, the motion vector of the co-located block used forcalculating the temporal motion vector predictor of the current block ischanged according to whether the co-located block is a backwardreference block or a forward reference block. It may also be that thetemporal motion vector predictor is calculated using a motion vectorhaving a smaller magnitude out of the two motion vectors of theco-located block. Here, the magnitude of the motion vector means, forexample, an absolute value of the motion vector.

Embodiment 2

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment ofa moving picture decoding apparatus using a moving picture decodingmethod according to the present invention.

In Embodiment 2, a block included in a picture located, in display timeorder, before a current picture to be decoded is referred to as aforward reference block. Moreover, a block included in a picturelocated, in display time order, after the current picture is referred toas a backward reference block.

A moving picture decoding apparatus 200 includes, as shown in FIG. 13, avariable-length decoding unit 201, an inverse quantization unit 202, aninverse orthogonal transform unit 203, a block memory 204, a framememory 205, an intra prediction unit 206, an inter prediction unit 207,an inter prediction control unit 208, a temporal motion vector predictorcalculation unit 209, and a colPic memory 210.

The variable-length decoding unit 201 performs a variable-lengthdecoding process on an input bitstream to generate picture typeinformation, a motion vector predictor index, a co-located referencedirection flag, a co-located block unidirectionality storage flag, and abitstream on which the variable-length decoding process has beenperformed. The inverse quantization unit 202 performs an inversequantization process on the bitstream on which the variable-lengthdecoding process has been performed. The inverse orthogonal transformunit 203 transforms, from frequency domain into image domain, thebitstream on which the inverse quantization process has been performed,to generate prediction error image data. The block memory 204 stores, inunits of blocks, an image sequence generated by adding the predictionerror image data and prediction image data. The frame memory 205 storesthe image sequence in units of frames. The intra prediction unit 206performs intra prediction using the Image sequence stored in units ofblocks in the block memory 204, to generate prediction error image datafor the current block. The inter prediction unit 207 performs interprediction using the image sequence stored in units of frames in theframe memory 205, to generate prediction error image data for thecurrent block.

The temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 209 derives acandidate motion vector predictor (temporal motion vector predictor) intemporal motion vector predictor mode using colPic information such as amotion vector of the co-located block stored in the colPic memory 210.The temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit 209 also assigns amotion vector predictor index value corresponding to the temporal motionvector predictor. The temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit209 transmits the temporal motion vector predictor and the motion vectorpredictor index to the inter prediction control unit 208. When theco-located block has no motion vector, it may be that the temporalmotion vector predictor calculation unit 209 stops the derivation of amotion vector in the temporal motion vector predictor mode, or derives acandidate motion vector predictor (temporal motion vector predictor)assuming that the motion vector is 0.

The inter prediction control unit 208 determines, from among candidatemotion vector predictors, a motion vector to be used for interprediction, based on the motion vector predictor index. Moreover, theinter prediction control unit 208 calculates a motion vector to be usedfor inter prediction by adding the error information of the candidatemotion vector predictor to the value of the determined candidate motionvector predictor. Furthermore, the inter prediction control unit 208transfers, to the colPic memory, colPic information including the motionvector of the current block and others.

At the end, the decoded prediction image data and the prediction errorimage data are added up to generate a decoded image sequence.

FIG. 14 shows an outline of a process flow of the moving picturedecoding method according to the present invention.

The variable-length decoding unit 201 decodes a co-located referencedirection flag and a co-located block unidirectionality storage flag inunits of pictures (Step S601). Next, the temporal motion vectorpredictor calculation unit 209 determines, based on the co-locatedreference direction flag, whether the forward reference block will bethe co-located block or the backward reference block will be theco-located block. In the similar manner to FIG. 9, the temporal motionvector predictor calculation unit 209 reads, from the colPic memory,colPic information including a reference motion vector of the co-locatedblock and others according to the co-located block information, andderives a candidate motion vector predictor (a temporal motion vectorpredictor) in the temporal motion vector predictor mode using thereference motion vector of the co-located block (Step S602). Next, theinter prediction control unit 208 determines, from among the candidatemotion vector predictors, a motion vector predictor to be used for interprediction, based on the motion vector predictor index decoded by thevariable-length decoding unit 201 (Step S603). Moreover, the interprediction control unit 208 derives a motion vector by adding errorinformation to the determined motion vector predictor. The interprediction control unit 208 then performs decoding through interprediction using the derived motion vector. Subsequently, in the similarmanner to FIG. 12, the inter prediction control unit 208 transfers, tothe colPic memory 210, colPic information including the motion vectorused for the inter prediction and others, and stores the information(Step S604). The colPic memory 210 stores motion vectors and indexvalues of reference pictures, prediction direction and others forcalculating a temporal motion vector predictor of a current block.

When the reference block has two or more reference motion vectors, thereference motion vector for calculating the temporal motion vectorpredictor may be selected based on other than the co-located referencedirection flag. For example, it may be that a temporal distance of eachof the reference motion vectors is calculated, and a reference motionvector having a short temporal distance is used. Here, the temporaldistance is calculated based on the number of pictures in display timebetween the reference picture including the reference block and thepicture to which the reference picture refers.

Furthermore, for example, it may be that the magnitudes of the referencemotion vectors are calculated, and that the motion vector derived usingthe reference motion vector having a smaller magnitude is determined asthe temporal motion vector predictor.

Accordingly, the present invention uses new criteria for appropriatelycontrolling motion vector information to be stored in the memory in thetemporal motion vector predictor mode. This allows appropriate decodingof a bitstream which requires less memory capacity and bandwidth in thetemporal motion vector predictor mode.

More specifically, when the decoded co-located block unidirectionalitystorage flag indicates ON, such control is performed that informationincluding the motion vector of the current block in the predictiondirection 1 or the prediction direction 2 and others is stored in theprediction-direction-1 area of the colPic memory. For obtaining thetemporal motion vector predictor, the colPic information is read fromthe prediction-direction-1 area of the colPic memory. Furthermore, whenthe co-located block unidirectionality storage flag indicates OFF,information including the motion vectors in the prediction direction 1and the prediction direction 2 are stored in the prediction-direction-1area and the prediction-direction-2 area of the colPic memory. Forobtaining the temporal motion vector predictor, it is possible toappropriately decode a bitstream with the reference motion vector mostsuitable for the current block, according to the co-located referencedirection flag.

Embodiment 3

The processing described in each of embodiments can be simplyimplemented in an independent computer system, by recording, in arecording medium, a program for implementing the configurations of themoving picture coding method (image coding method) and the movingpicture decoding method (image decoding method) described in each ofembodiments. The recording media may be any recording media as long asthe program can be recorded, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, amagnetic optical disk, an IC card, and a semiconductor memory.

Hereinafter, the applications to the moving picture coding method (imagecoding method) and the moving picture decoding method (image decodingmethod) described in each of embodiments and systems using thereof willbe described. The system has a feature of having an image coding anddecoding apparatus that includes an image coding apparatus using theimage coding method and an image decoding apparatus using the imagedecoding method. Other configurations in the system can be changed asappropriate depending on the cases.

FIG. 15 illustrates an overall configuration of a content providingsystem ex100 for implementing content distribution services. The areafor providing communication services is divided into cells of desiredsize, and base stations ex106, ex107, ex108, ex109, and ex110 which arefixed wireless stations are placed in each of the cells.

The content providing system ex100 is connected to devices, such as acomputer ex111, a personal digital assistant (PDA) ex112, a cameraex113, a cellular phone ex114 and a game machine ex115, via the Internetex101, an Internet service provider ex102, a telephone network ex104, aswell as the base stations ex106 to ex110, respectively.

However, the configuration of the content providing system ex100 is notlimited to the configuration shown in FIG. 15, and a combination inwhich any of the elements are connected is acceptable. In addition, eachdevice may be directly connected to the telephone network ex104, ratherthan via the base stations ex106 to ex110 which are the fixed wirelessstations. Furthermore, the devices may be interconnected to each othervia a short distance wireless communication and others.

The camera ex113, such as a digital video camera, is capable ofcapturing video. A camera ex116, such as a digital camera, is capable ofcapturing both still images and video. Furthermore, the cellular phoneex114 may be the one that meets any of the standards such as GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) (registered trademark), CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access(W-CDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and High Speed Packet Access(HSPA). Alternatively, the cellular phone ex114 may be a PersonalHandyphone System (PHS).

In the content providing system ex100, a streaming server ex103 isconnected to the camera ex113 and others via the telephone network ex104and the base station ex109, which enables distribution of images of alive show and others. In such a distribution, a content (for example,video of a music live show) captured by the user using the camera ex113is coded as described above in each of embodiments (i.e., the camerafunctions as the image coding apparatus according to an aspect of thepresent invention), and the coded content is transmitted to thestreaming server ex103. On the other hand, the streaming server ex103carries out stream distribution of the transmitted content data to theclients upon their requests. The clients include the computer ex111, thePDA ex112, the camera ex113, the cellular phone ex114, and the gamemachine ex115 that are capable of decoding the above-mentioned codeddata. Each of the devices that have received the distributed datadecodes and reproduces the coded data (i.e., functions as the imagedecoding apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention).

The captured data may be coded by the camera ex113 or the streamingserver ex103 that transmits the data, or the coding processes may beshared between the camera ex113 and the streaming server ex103.Similarly, the distributed data may be decoded by the clients or thestreaming server ex103, or the decoding processes may be shared betweenthe clients and the streaming server ex103. Furthermore, the data of thestill images and video captured by not only the camera ex113 but alsothe camera ex116 may be transmitted to the streaming server ex103through the computer ex111. The coding processes may be performed by thecamera ex116, the computer ex111, or the streaming server ex103, orshared among them.

Furthermore, the coding and decoding processes may be performed by anLSI ex500 generally included in each of the computer ex111 and thedevices. The LSI ex500 may be configured of a single chip or a pluralityof chips. Software for coding and decoding video may be integrated intosome type of a recording medium (such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, anda hard disk) that is readable by the computer ex111 and others, and thecoding and decoding processes may be performed using the software.Furthermore, when the cellular phone ex114 is equipped with a camera,the video data obtained by the camera may be transmitted. The video datais data coded by the LSI ex500 included in the cellular phone ex114.

Furthermore, the streaming server ex103 may be composed of servers andcomputers, and may decentralize data and process the decentralized data,record, or distribute data.

As described above, the clients may receive and reproduce the coded datain the content providing system ex100. In other words, the clients canreceive and decode information transmitted by the user, and reproducethe decoded data in real time in the content providing system ex100, sothat the user who does not have any particular right and equipment canimplement personal broadcasting.

Aside from the example of the content providing system ex100, at leastone of the moving picture coding apparatus (image coding apparatus) andthe moving picture decoding apparatus (image decoding apparatus)described in each of embodiments may be implemented in a digitalbroadcasting system ex200 illustrated in FIG. 16. More specifically, abroadcast station ex201 communicates or transmits, via radio waves to abroadcast satellite ex202, multiplexed data obtained by multiplexingaudio data and others onto video data. The video data is data coded bythe moving picture coding method described in each of embodiments (i.e.,data coded by the image coding apparatus according to an aspect of thepresent invention). Upon receipt of the multiplexed data, the broadcastsatellite ex202 transmits radio waves for broadcasting. Then, a home-useantenna ex204 with a satellite broadcast reception function receives theradio waves. Next, a device such as a television (receiver) ex300 and aset top box (STB) ex217 decodes the received multiplexed data, andreproduces the decoded data (i.e., functions as the image decodingapparatus according to an aspect of the present invention).

Furthermore, a reader/recorder ex218 (i) reads and decodes themultiplexed data recorded on a recording medium ex215, such as a DVD anda BD, or (i) codes video signals in the recording medium ex215, and insome cases, writes data obtained by multiplexing an audio signal on thecoded data. The reader/recorder ex218 can include the moving picturedecoding apparatus or the moving picture coding apparatus as shown ineach of embodiments. In this case, the reproduced video signals aredisplayed on the monitor ex219, and can be reproduced by another deviceor system using the recording medium ex215 on which the multiplexed datais recorded. It is also possible to implement the moving picturedecoding apparatus in the set top box ex217 connected to the cable ex203for a cable television or to the antenna ex204 for satellite and/orterrestrial broadcasting, so as to display the video signals on themonitor ex219 of the television ex300. The moving picture decodingapparatus may be implemented not in the set top box but in thetelevision ex300.

FIG. 17 illustrates the television (receiver) ex300 that uses the movingpicture coding method and the moving picture decoding method describedin each of embodiments. The television ex300 includes: a tuner ex301that obtains or provides multiplexed data obtained by multiplexing audiodata onto video data, through the antenna ex204 or the cable ex203, etc.that receives a broadcast; a modulation/demodulation unit ex302 thatdemodulates the received multiplexed data or modulates data intomultiplexed data to be supplied outside; and amultiplexing/demultiplexing unit ex303 that demultiplexes the modulatedmultiplexed data into video data and audio data, or multiplexes videodata and audio data coded by a signal processing unit ex306 into data.

The television ex300 further includes: a signal processing unit ex306including an audio signal processing unit ex304 and a video signalprocessing unit ex305 that decode audio data and video data and codeaudio data and video data, respectively (which function as the imagecoding apparatus and the image decoding apparatus according to theaspects of the present disclosure); and an output unit ex309 including aspeaker ex307 that provides the decoded audio signal, and a display unitex308 that displays the decoded video signal, such as a display.Furthermore, the television ex300 includes an interface unit ex317including an operation input unit ex312 that receives an input of a useroperation. Furthermore, the television ex300 includes a control unitex310 that controls overall each constituent element of the televisionex300, and a power supply circuit unit ex311 that supplies power to eachof the elements. Other than the operation input unit ex312, theinterface unit ex317 may include: a bridge ex313 that is connected to anexternal device, such as the reader/recorder ex218; a slot unit ex314for enabling attachment of the recording medium ex216, such as an SDcard; a driver ex315 to be connected to an external recording medium,such as a hard disk; and a modem ex316 to be connected to a telephonenetwork. Here, the recording medium ex216 can electrically recordinformation using a non-volatile/volatile semiconductor memory elementfor storage. The constituent elements of the television ex300 areconnected to each other through a synchronous bus.

First, the configuration in which the television ex300 decodesmultiplexed data obtained from outside through the antenna ex204 andothers and reproduces the decoded data will be described. In thetelevision ex300, upon a user operation through a remote controllerex220 and others, the multiplexing/demultiplexing unit ex303demultiplexes the multiplexed data demodulated by themodulation/demodulation unit ex302, under control of the control unitex310 including a CPU. Furthermore, the audio signal processing unitex304 decodes the demultiplexed audio data, and the video signalprocessing unit ex305 decodes the demultiplexed video data, using thedecoding method described in each of embodiments, in the televisionex300. The output unit ex309 provides the decoded video signal and audiosignal outside, respectively. When the output unit ex309 provides thevideo signal and the audio signal, the signals may be temporarily storedin buffers ex318 and ex319, and others so that the signals arereproduced in synchronization with each other. Furthermore, thetelevision ex300 may read multiplexed data not through a broadcast andothers but from the recording media ex215 and ex216, such as a magneticdisk, an optical disk, and a SD card. Next, a configuration in which thetelevision ex300 codes an audio signal and a video signal, and transmitsthe data outside or writes the data on a recording medium will bedescribed. In the television ex300, upon a user operation through theremote controller ex220 and others, the audio signal processing unitex304 codes an audio signal, and the video signal processing unit ex305codes a video signal, under control of the control unit ex310 using thecoding method described in each of embodiments. Themultiplexing/demultiplexing unit ex303 multiplexes the coded videosignal and audio signal, and provides the resulting signal outside. Whenthe multiplexing/demultiplexing unit ex303 multiplexes the video signaland the audio signal, the signals may be temporarily stored in thebuffers ex320 and ex321, and others so that the signals are reproducedin synchronization with each other. Here, the buffers ex318, ex319,ex320, and ex321 may be plural as illustrated, or at least one buffermay be shared in the television ex300. Furthermore, data may be storedin a buffer so that the system overflow and underflow may be avoidedbetween the modulation/demodulation unit ex302 and themultiplexing/demultiplexing unit ex303, for example.

Furthermore, the television ex300 may include a configuration forreceiving an AV input from a microphone or a camera other than theconfiguration for obtaining audio and video data from a broadcast or arecording medium, and may code the obtained data. Although thetelevision ex300 can code, multiplex, and provide outside data in thedescription, it may be capable of only receiving, decoding, andproviding outside data but not the coding, multiplexing, and providingoutside data.

Furthermore, when the reader/recorder ex218 reads or writes multiplexeddata from or on a recording medium, one of the television ex300 and thereader/recorder ex218 may decode or code the multiplexed data, and thetelevision ex300 and the reader/recorder ex218 may share the decoding orcoding.

As an example, FIG. 18 illustrates a configuration of an informationreproducing/recording unit ex400 when data is read or written from or onan optical disk. The information reproducing/recording unit ex400includes constituent elements ex401, ex402, ex403, ex404, ex405, ex406,and ex407 to be described hereinafter. The optical head ex401 irradiatesa laser spot in a recording surface of the recording medium ex215 thatis an optical disk to write information, and detects reflected lightfrom the recording surface of the recording medium ex215 to read theinformation. The modulation recording unit ex402 electrically drives asemiconductor laser included in the optical head ex401, and modulatesthe laser light according to recorded data. The reproductiondemodulating unit ex403 amplifies a reproduction signal obtained byelectrically detecting the reflected light from the recording surfaceusing a photo detector included in the optical head ex401, anddemodulates the reproduction signal by separating a signal componentrecorded on the recording medium ex215 to reproduce the necessaryinformation. The buffer ex404 temporarily holds the information to berecorded on the recording medium ex215 and the information reproducedfrom the recording medium ex215. The disk motor ex405 rotates therecording medium ex215. The servo control unit ex406 moves the opticalhead ex401 to a predetermined information track while controlling therotation drive of the disk motor ex405 so as to follow the laser spot.The system control unit ex407 controls overall the informationreproducing/recording unit ex400. The reading and writing processes canbe implemented by the system control unit ex407 using variousinformation stored in the buffer ex404 and generating and adding newinformation as necessary, and by the modulation recording unit ex402,the reproduction demodulating unit ex403, and the servo control unitex406 that record and reproduce information through the optical headex401 while being operated in a coordinated manner. The system controlunit ex407 includes, for example, a microprocessor, and executesprocessing by causing a computer to execute a program for read andwrite.

Although the optical head ex401 irradiates a laser spot in thedescription, it may perform high-density recording using near fieldlight.

FIG. 19 illustrates the recording medium ex215 that is the optical disk.On the recording surface of the recording medium ex215, guide groovesare spirally formed, and an information track ex230 records, in advance,address information indicating an absolute position on the diskaccording to change in a shape of the guide grooves. The addressinformation includes information for determining positions of recordingblocks ex231 that are a unit for recording data. Reproducing theinformation track ex230 and reading the address information in anapparatus that records and reproduces data can lead to determination ofthe positions of the recording blocks. Furthermore, the recording mediumex215 includes a data recording area ex233, an inner circumference areaex232, and an outer circumference area ex234. The data recording areaex233 is an area for use in recording the user data. The innercircumference area ex232 and the outer circumference area ex234 that areinside and outside of the data recording area ex233, respectively arefor specific use except for recording the user data. The informationreproducing/recording unit 400 reads and writes coded audio, coded videodata, or multiplexed data obtained by multiplexing the coded audio andvideo data, from and on the data recording area ex233 of the recordingmedium ex215.

Although an optical disk having a layer, such as a DVD and a BD isdescribed as an example in the description, the optical disk is notlimited to such, and may be an optical disk having a multilayerstructure and capable of being recorded on a part other than thesurface. Furthermore, the optical disk may have a structure formultidimensional recording/reproduction, such as recording ofinformation using light of colors with different wavelengths in the sameportion of the optical disk and for recording information havingdifferent layers from various angles.

Furthermore, a car ex210 having an antenna ex205 can receive data fromthe satellite ex202 and others, and reproduce video on a display devicesuch as a car navigation system ex211 set in the car ex210, in thedigital broadcasting system ex200. Here, a configuration of the carnavigation system ex211 will be a configuration, for example, includinga GPS receiving unit from the configuration illustrated in FIG. 17. Thesame will be true for the configuration of the computer ex111, thecellular phone ex114, and others.

FIG. 20A illustrates the cellular phone ex114 that uses the movingpicture coding method and the moving picture decoding method describedin embodiments. The cellular phone ex114 includes: an antenna ex350 fortransmitting and receiving radio waves through the base station ex110; acamera unit ex365 capable of capturing moving and still images; and adisplay unit ex358 such as a liquid crystal display for displaying thedata such as decoded video captured by the camera unit ex365 or receivedby the antenna ex350. The cellular phone ex114 further includes: a mainbody unit including an operation key unit ex366; an audio output unitex357 such as a speaker for output of audio; an audio input unit ex356such as a microphone for input of audio; a memory unit ex367 for storingcaptured video or still pictures, recorded audio, coded or decoded dataof the received video, the still pictures, e-mails, or others; and aslot unit ex364 that is an interface unit for a recording medium thatstores data in the same manner as the memory unit ex367.

Next, an example of a configuration of the cellular phone ex114 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 20B. In the cellular phone ex114, amain control unit ex360 designed to control overall each unit of themain body including the display unit ex358 as well as the operation keyunit ex366 is connected mutually, via a synchronous bus ex370, to apower supply circuit unit ex361, an operation input control unit ex362,a video signal processing unit ex355, a camera interface unit ex363, aliquid crystal display (LCD) control unit ex359, amodulation/demodulation unit ex352, a multiplexing/demultiplexing unitex353, an audio signal processing unit ex354, the slot unit ex364, andthe memory unit ex367.

When a call-end key or a power key is turned ON by a user's operation,the power supply circuit unit ex361 supplies the respective units withpower from a battery pack so as to activate the cell phone ex114.

In the cellular phone ex114, the audio signal processing unit ex354converts the audio signals collected by the audio input unit ex356 invoice conversation mode into digital audio signals under the control ofthe main control unit ex360 including a CPU, ROM, and RAM. Then, themodulation/demodulation unit ex352 performs spread spectrum processingon the digital audio signals, and the transmitting and receiving unitex351 performs digital-to-analog conversion and frequency conversion onthe data, so as to transmit the resulting data via the antenna ex350.Also, in the cellular phone ex114, the transmitting and receiving unitex351 amplifies the data received by the antenna ex350 in voiceconversation mode and performs frequency conversion and theanalog-to-digital conversion on the data. Then, themodulation/demodulation unit ex352 performs inverse spread spectrumprocessing on the data, and the audio signal processing unit ex354converts it into analog audio signals, so as to output them via theaudio output unit ex357.

Furthermore, when an e-mail in data communication mode is transmitted,text data of the e-mail inputted by operating the operation key unitex366 and others of the main body is sent out to the main control unitex360 via the operation input control unit ex362. The main control unitex360 causes the modulation/demodulation unit ex352 to perform spreadspectrum processing on the text data, and the transmitting and receivingunit ex351 performs the digital-to-analog conversion and the frequencyconversion on the resulting data to transmit the data to the basestation ex110 via the antenna ex350. When an e-mail is received,processing that is approximately inverse to the processing fortransmitting an e-mail is performed on the received data, and theresulting data is provided to the display unit ex358.

When video, still images, or video and audio in data communication modeis or are transmitted, the video signal processing unit ex355 compressesand codes video signals supplied from the camera unit ex365 using themoving picture coding method shown in each of embodiments (i.e.,functions as the image coding apparatus according to the aspect of thepresent invention), and transmits the coded video data to themultiplexing/demultiplexing unit ex353. In contrast, during when thecamera unit ex365 captures video, still images, and others, the audiosignal processing unit ex354 codes audio signals collected by the audioinput unit ex356, and transmits the coded audio data to themultiplexing/demultiplexing unit ex353.

The multiplexing/demultiplexing unit ex353 multiplexes the coded videodata supplied from the video signal processing unit ex355 and the codedaudio data supplied from the audio signal processing unit ex354, using apredetermined method. Then, the modulation/demodulation unit(modulation/demodulation circuit unit) ex352 performs spread spectrumprocessing on the multiplexed data, and the transmitting and receivingunit ex351 performs digital-to-analog conversion and frequencyconversion on the data so as to transmit the resulting data via theantenna ex350.

When receiving data of a video file which is linked to a Web page andothers in data communication mode or when receiving an e-mail with videoand/or audio attached, in order to decode the multiplexed data receivedvia the antenna ex350, the multiplexing/demultiplexing unit ex353demultiplexes the multiplexed data into a video data bitstream and anaudio data bitstream, and supplies the video signal processing unitex355 with the coded video data and the audio signal processing unitex354 with the coded audio data, through the synchronous bus ex370. Thevideo signal processing unit ex355 decodes the video signal using amoving picture decoding method corresponding to the moving picturecoding method shown in each of embodiments (i.e., functions as the imagedecoding apparatus according to the aspect of the present invention),and then the display unit ex358 displays, for instance, the video andstill images included in the video file linked to the Web page via theLCD control unit ex359. Furthermore, the audio signal processing unitex354 decodes the audio signal, and the audio output unit ex357 providesthe audio.

Furthermore, similarly to the television ex300, a terminal such as thecellular phone ex114 probably have 3 types of implementationconfigurations including not only (i) a transmitting and receivingterminal including both a coding apparatus and a decoding apparatus, butalso (ii) a transmitting terminal including only a coding apparatus and(iii) a receiving terminal including only a decoding apparatus. Althoughthe digital broadcasting system ex200 receives and transmits themultiplexed data obtained by multiplexing audio data onto video data inthe description, the multiplexed data may be data obtained bymultiplexing not audio data but character data related to video ontovideo data, and may be not multiplexed data but video data itself.

As such, the moving picture coding method and the moving picturedecoding method in each of embodiments can be used in any of the devicesand systems described. Thus, the advantages described in each ofembodiments can be obtained.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to embodiments, andvarious modifications and revisions are possible without departing fromthe scope of the present invention.

Embodiment 4

Video data can be generated by switching, as necessary, between (i) themoving picture coding method or the moving picture coding apparatusshown in each of embodiments and (ii) a moving picture coding method ora moving picture coding apparatus in conformity with a differentstandard, such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC, and VC-1.

Here, when a plurality of video data that conforms to the differentstandards is generated and is then decoded, the decoding methods need tobe selected to conform to the different standards. However, since towhich standard each of the plurality of the video data to be decodedconform cannot be detected, there is a problem that an appropriatedecoding method cannot be selected.

In order to solve the problem, multiplexed data obtained by multiplexingaudio data and others onto video data has a structure includingidentification information indicating to which standard the video dataconforms. The specific structure of the multiplexed data including thevideo data generated in the moving picture coding method and by themoving picture coding apparatus shown in each of embodiments will behereinafter described. The multiplexed data is a digital stream in theMPEG-2 Transport Stream format.

FIG. 21 illustrates a structure of the multiplexed data. As illustratedin FIG. 21, the multiplexed data can be obtained by multiplexing atleast one of a video stream, an audio stream, a presentation graphicsstream (PG), and an interactive graphics stream. The video streamrepresents primary video and secondary video of a movie, the audiostream (IG) represents a primary audio part and a secondary audio partto be mixed with the primary audio part, and the presentation graphicsstream represents subtitles of the movie. Here, the primary video isnormal video to be displayed on a screen, and the secondary video isvideo to be displayed on a smaller window in the primary video.Furthermore, the interactive graphics stream represents an interactivescreen to be generated by arranging the GUI components on a screen. Thevideo stream is coded in the moving picture coding method or by themoving picture coding apparatus shown in each of embodiments, or in amoving picture coding method or by a moving picture coding apparatus inconformity with a conventional standard, such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC, andVC-1. The audio stream is coded in accordance with a standard, such asDolby-AC-3, Dolby Digital Plus, MLP, DTS, DTS-HD, and linear PCM.

Each stream included in the multiplexed data is identified by PID. Forexample, 0x1011 is allocated to the video stream to be used for video ofa movie, 0x1100 to 0x111F are allocated to the audio streams, 0x1200 to0x121F are allocated to the presentation graphics streams, 0x1400 to0x141F are allocated to the interactive graphics streams, 0x1B00 to0x1B1F are allocated to the video streams to be used for secondary videoof the movie, and 0x1A00 to 0x1A1F are allocated to the audio streams tobe used for the secondary audio to be mixed with the primary audio.

FIG. 22 schematically illustrates how data is multiplexed. First, avideo stream ex235 composed of video frames and an audio stream ex238composed of audio frames are transformed into a stream of PES packetsex236 and a stream of PES packets ex239, and further into TS packetsex237 and TS packets ex240, respectively. Similarly, data of apresentation graphics stream ex241 and data of an interactive graphicsstream ex244 are transformed into a stream of PES packets ex242 and astream of PES packets ex245, and further into TS packets ex243 and TSpackets ex246, respectively. These TS packets are multiplexed into astream to obtain multiplexed data ex247.

FIG. 23 illustrates how a video stream is stored in a stream of PESpackets in more detail. The first bar in FIG. 23 shows a video framestream in a video stream. The second bar shows the stream of PESpackets. As indicated by arrows denoted as yy1, yy2, yy3, and yy4 inFIG. 23, the video stream is divided into pictures as I pictures, Bpictures, and P pictures each of which is a video presentation unit, andthe pictures are stored in a payload of each of the PES packets. Each ofthe PES packets has a PES header, and the PES header stores aPresentation Time-Stamp (PTS) indicating a display time of the picture,and a Decoding Time-Stamp (DTS) indicating a decoding time of thepicture.

FIG. 24 illustrates a format of TS packets to be finally written on themultiplexed data. Each of the TS packets is a 188-byte fixed lengthpacket including a 4-byte TS header having information, such as a PIDfor identifying a stream and a 184-byte TS payload for storing data. ThePES packets are divided, and stored in the TS payloads, respectively.When a BD ROM is used, each of the TS packets is given a 4-byteTP_Extra_Header, thus resulting in 192-byte source packets. The sourcepackets are written on the multiplexed data. The TP_Extra_Header storesinformation such as an Arrival_Time_Stamp (ATS). The ATS shows atransfer start time at which each of the TS packets is to be transferredto a PID filter. The source packets are arranged in the multiplexed dataas shown at the bottom of FIG. 24. The numbers incrementing from thehead of the multiplexed data are called source packet numbers (SPNs).

Each of the TS packets included in the multiplexed data includes notonly streams of audio, video, subtitles and others, but also a ProgramAssociation Table (PAT), a Program Map Table (PMT), and a Program ClockReference (PCR). The PAT shows what a PID in a PMT used in themultiplexed data indicates, and a PID of the PAT itself is registered aszero. The PMT stores PIDs of the streams of video, audio, subtitles andothers included in the multiplexed data, and attribute information ofthe streams corresponding to the PIDs. The PMT also has variousdescriptors relating to the multiplexed data. The descriptors haveinformation such as copy control information showing whether copying ofthe multiplexed data is permitted or not. The PCR stores STC timeinformation corresponding to an ATS showing when the PCR packet istransferred to a decoder, in order to achieve synchronization between anArrival Time Clock (ATC) that is a time axis of ATSs, and an System TimeClock (STC) that is a time axis of PTSs and DTSs.

FIG. 25 illustrates the data structure of the PMT in detail. A PMTheader is disposed at the top of the PMT. The PMT header describes thelength of data included in the PMT and others. A plurality ofdescriptors relating to the multiplexed data is disposed after the PMTheader. Information such as the copy control information is described inthe descriptors. After the descriptors, a plurality of pieces of streaminformation relating to the streams included in the multiplexed data isdisposed. Each piece of stream information includes stream descriptorseach describing information, such as a stream type for identifying acompression codec of a stream, a stream PID, and stream attributeinformation (such as a frame rate or an aspect ratio). The streamdescriptors are equal in number to the number of streams in themultiplexed data. The stream descriptors are equal in number to thenumber of streams in the multiplexed data.

When the multiplexed data is recorded on a recording medium and others,it is recorded together with multiplexed data information files.

Each of the multiplexed data information files is management informationof the multiplexed data as shown in FIG. 26. The multiplexed datainformation files are in one to one correspondence with the multiplexeddata, and each of the files includes multiplexed data information,stream attribute information, and an entry map.

As illustrated in FIG. 26, the multiplexed data information includes asystem rate, a reproduction start time, and a reproduction end time. Thesystem rate indicates the maximum transfer rate at which a system targetdecoder to be described later transfers the multiplexed data to a PIDfilter. The intervals of the ATSs included in the multiplexed data areset to not higher than a system rate. The reproduction start timeindicates a PTS in a video frame at the head of the multiplexed data. Aninterval of one frame is added to a PTS in a video frame at the end ofthe multiplexed data, and the PTS is set to the reproduction end time.

As shown in FIG. 27, a piece of attribute information is registered inthe stream attribute information, for each PID of each stream includedin the multiplexed data. Each piece of attribute information hasdifferent information depending on whether the corresponding stream is avideo stream, an audio stream, a presentation graphics stream, or aninteractive graphics stream. Each piece of video stream attributeinformation carries information including what kind of compression codecis used for compressing the video stream, and the resolution, aspectratio and frame rate of the pieces of picture data that is included inthe video stream. Each piece of audio stream attribute informationcarries information including what kind of compression codec is used forcompressing the audio stream, how many channels are included in theaudio stream, which language the audio stream supports, and how high thesampling frequency is. The video stream attribute information and theaudio stream attribute information are used for initialization of adecoder before the player plays back the information.

In the present embodiment, the multiplexed data to be used is of astream type included in the PMT. Furthermore, when the multiplexed datais recorded on a recording medium, the video stream attributeinformation included in the multiplexed data information is used. Morespecifically, the moving picture coding method or the moving picturecoding apparatus described in each of embodiments includes a step or aunit for allocating unique information indicating video data generatedby the moving picture coding method or the moving picture codingapparatus in each of embodiments, to the stream type included in the PMTor the video stream attribute information. With the configuration, thevideo data generated by the moving picture coding method or the movingpicture coding apparatus described in each of embodiments can bedistinguished from video data that conforms to another standard.

Furthermore, FIG. 28 illustrates steps of the moving picture decodingmethod according to the present embodiment. In Step exS100, the streamtype included in the PMT or the video stream attribute informationincluded in the multiplexed data information is obtained from themultiplexed data. Next, in Step exS101, it is determined whether or notthe stream type or the video stream attribute information indicates thatthe multiplexed data is generated by the moving picture coding method orthe moving picture coding apparatus in each of embodiments. When it isdetermined that the stream type or the video stream attributeinformation indicates that the multiplexed data is generated by themoving picture coding method or the moving picture coding apparatus ineach of embodiments, in Step exS102, decoding is performed by the movingpicture decoding method in each of embodiments. Furthermore, when thestream type or the video stream attribute information indicatesconformance to the conventional standards, such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC,and VC-1, in Step exS103, decoding is performed by a moving picturedecoding method in conformity with the conventional standards.

As such, allocating a new unique value to the stream type or the videostream attribute information enables determination whether or not themoving picture decoding method or the moving picture decoding apparatusthat is described in each of embodiments can perform decoding. Even whenmultiplexed data that conforms to a different standard is input, anappropriate decoding method or apparatus can be selected. Thus, itbecomes possible to decode information without any error. Furthermore,the moving picture coding method or apparatus, or the moving picturedecoding method or apparatus in the present embodiment can be used inthe devices and systems described above.

Embodiment 5

Each of the moving picture coding method, the moving picture codingapparatus, the moving picture decoding method, and the moving picturedecoding apparatus in each of embodiments is typically achieved in theform of an integrated circuit or a Large Scale Integrated (LSI) circuit.As an example of the LSI, FIG. 29 illustrates a configuration of the LSIex500 that is made into one chip. The LSI ex500 includes elements ex501,ex502, ex503, ex504, ex505, ex506, ex507, ex508, and ex509 to bedescribed below, and the elements are connected to each other through abus ex510. The power supply circuit unit ex505 is activated by supplyingeach of the elements with power when the power supply circuit unit ex505is turned on.

For example, when coding is performed, the LSI ex500 receives an AVsignal from a microphone ex117, a camera ex113, and others through an AVIO ex509 under control of a control unit ex501 including a CPU ex502, amemory controller ex503, a stream controller ex504, and a drivingfrequency control unit ex512. The received AV signal is temporarilystored in an external memory ex511, such as an SDRAM. Under control ofthe control unit ex501, the stored data is segmented into data portionsaccording to the processing amount and speed to be transmitted to asignal processing unit ex507. Then, the signal processing unit ex507codes an audio signal and/or a video signal. Here, the coding of thevideo signal is the coding described in each of embodiments.Furthermore, the signal processing unit ex507 sometimes multiplexes thecoded audio data and the coded video data, and a stream IO ex506provides the multiplexed data outside. The provided multiplexed data istransmitted to the base station ex107, or written on the recordingmedium ex215. When data sets are multiplexed, the data should betemporarily stored in the buffer ex508 so that the data sets aresynchronized with each other.

Although the memory ex511 is an element outside the LSI ex500, it may beincluded in the LSI ex500. The buffer ex508 is not limited to onebuffer, but may be composed of buffers. Furthermore, the LSI ex500 maybe made into one chip or a plurality of chips.

Furthermore, although the control unit ex501 includes the CPU ex502, thememory controller ex503, the stream controller ex504, the drivingfrequency control unit ex512, the configuration of the control unitex501 is not limited to such. For example, the signal processing unitex507 may further include a CPU. Inclusion of another CPU in the signalprocessing unit ex507 can improve the processing speed. Furthermore, asanother example, the CPU ex502 may serve as or be a part of the signalprocessing unit ex507, and, for example, may include an audio signalprocessing unit. In such a case, the control unit ex501 includes thesignal processing unit ex507 or the CPU ex502 including a part of thesignal processing unit ex507.

The name used here is LSI, but it may also be called IC, system LSI,super LSI, or ultra LSI depending on the degree of integration.

Moreover, ways to achieve integration are not limited to the LSI, and aspecial circuit or a general purpose processor and so forth can alsoachieve the integration. Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that canbe programmed after manufacturing LSIs or a reconfigurable processorthat allows re-configuration of the connection or configuration of anLSI can be used for the same purpose.

In the future, with advancement in semiconductor technology, a brand-newtechnology may replace LSI. The functional blocks can be integratedusing such a technology. The possibility is that the present disclosureis applied to biotechnology.

Embodiment 6

When video data generated in the moving picture coding method or by themoving picture coding apparatus described in each of embodiments isdecoded, compared to when video data that conforms to a conventionalstandard, such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC, and VC-1 is decoded, theprocessing amount probably increases. Thus, the LSI ex500 needs to beset to a driving frequency higher than that of the CPU ex502 to be usedwhen video data in conformity with the conventional standard is decoded.However, when the driving frequency is set higher, there is a problemthat the power consumption increases.

In order to solve the problem, the moving picture decoding apparatus,such as the television ex300 and the LSI ex500 is configured todetermine to which standard the video data conforms, and switch betweenthe driving frequencies according to the determined standard. FIG. 30illustrates a configuration ex800 in the present embodiment. A drivingfrequency switching unit ex803 sets a driving frequency to a higherdriving frequency when video data is generated by the moving picturecoding method or the moving picture coding apparatus described in eachof embodiments. Then, the driving frequency switching unit ex803instructs a decoding processing unit ex801 that executes the movingpicture decoding method described in each of embodiments to decode thevideo data. When the video data conforms to the conventional standard,the driving frequency switching unit ex803 sets a driving frequency to alower driving frequency than that of the video data generated by themoving picture coding method or the moving picture coding apparatusdescribed in each of embodiments. Then, the driving frequency switchingunit ex803 instructs the decoding processing unit ex802 that conforms tothe conventional standard to decode the video data.

More specifically, the driving frequency switching unit ex803 includesthe CPU ex502 and the driving frequency control unit ex512 in FIG. 29.Here, each of the decoding processing unit ex801 that executes themoving picture decoding method described in each of embodiments and thedecoding processing unit ex802 that conforms to the conventionalstandard corresponds to the signal processing unit ex507 in FIG. 29. TheCPU ex502 determines to which standard the video data conforms. Then,the driving frequency control unit ex512 determines a driving frequencybased on a signal from the CPU ex502. Furthermore, the signal processingunit ex507 decodes the video data based on the signal from the CPUex502. For example, the identification information described inEmbodiment 4 is probably used for identifying the video data. Theidentification information is not limited to the one described inEmbodiment 4 but may be any information as long as the informationindicates to which standard the video data conforms. For example, whenwhich standard video data conforms to can be determined based on anexternal signal for determining that the video data is used for atelevision or a disk, etc., the determination may be made based on suchan external signal. Furthermore, the CPU ex502 selects a drivingfrequency based on, for example, a look-up table in which the standardsof the video data are associated with the driving frequencies as shownin FIG. 32. The driving frequency can be selected by storing the look-uptable in the buffer ex508 and in an internal memory of an LSI, and withreference to the look-up table by the CPU ex502.

FIG. 31 illustrates steps for executing a method in the presentembodiment. First, in Step exS200, the signal processing unit ex507obtains identification information from the multiplexed data. Next, inStep exS201, the CPU ex502 determines whether or not the video data isgenerated by the coding method and the coding apparatus described ineach of embodiments, based on the identification information. When thevideo data is generated by the moving picture coding method and themoving picture coding apparatus described in each of embodiments, inStep exS202, the CPU ex502 transmits a signal for setting the drivingfrequency to a higher driving frequency to the driving frequency controlunit ex512. Then, the driving frequency control unit ex512 sets thedriving frequency to the higher driving frequency. On the other hand,when the identification information indicates that the video dataconforms to the conventional standard, such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC, andVC-1, in Step exS203, the CPU ex502 transmits a signal for setting thedriving frequency to a lower driving frequency to the driving frequencycontrol unit ex512. Then, the driving frequency control unit ex512 setsthe driving frequency to the lower driving frequency than that in thecase where the video data is generated by the moving picture codingmethod and the moving picture coding apparatus described in each ofembodiment.

Furthermore, along with the switching of the driving frequencies, thepower conservation effect can be improved by changing the voltage to beapplied to the LSI ex500 or an apparatus including the LSI ex500. Forexample, when the driving frequency is set lower, the voltage to beapplied to the LSI ex500 or the apparatus including the LSI ex500 isprobably set to a voltage lower than that in the case where the drivingfrequency is set higher.

Furthermore, when the processing amount for decoding is larger, thedriving frequency may be set higher, and when the processing amount fordecoding is smaller, the driving frequency may be set lower as themethod for setting the driving frequency. Thus, the setting method isnot limited to the ones described above. For example, when theprocessing amount for decoding video data in conformity with MPEG-4 AVCis larger than the processing amount for decoding video data generatedby the moving picture coding method and the moving picture codingapparatus described in each of embodiments, the driving frequency isprobably set in reverse order to the setting described above.

Furthermore, the method for setting the driving frequency is not limitedto the method for setting the driving frequency lower. For example, whenthe identification information indicates that the video data isgenerated by the moving picture coding method and the moving picturecoding apparatus described in each of embodiments, the voltage to beapplied to the LSI ex500 or the apparatus including the LSI ex500 isprobably set higher. When the identification information indicates thatthe video data conforms to the conventional standard, such as MPEG-2,MPEG-4 AVC, and VC-1, the voltage to be applied to the LSI ex500 or theapparatus including the LSI ex500 is probably set lower. As anotherexample, when the identification information indicates that the videodata is generated by the moving picture coding method and the movingpicture coding apparatus described in each of embodiments, the drivingof the CPU ex502 does not probably have to be suspended. When theidentification information indicates that the video data conforms to theconventional standard, such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC, and VC-1, the drivingof the CPU ex502 is probably suspended at a given time because the CPUex502 has extra processing capacity. Even when the identificationinformation indicates that the video data is generated by the movingpicture coding method and the moving picture coding apparatus describedin each of embodiments, in the case where the CPU ex502 has extraprocessing capacity, the driving of the CPU ex502 is probably suspendedat a given time. In such a case, the suspending time is probably setshorter than that in the case where when the identification informationindicates that the video data conforms to the conventional standard,such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC, and VC-1.

Accordingly, the power conservation effect can be improved by switchingbetween the driving frequencies in accordance with the standard to whichthe video data conforms. Furthermore, when the LSI ex500 or theapparatus including the LSI ex500 is driven using a battery, the batterylife can be extended with the power conservation effect.

Embodiment 7

There are cases where a plurality of video data that conforms todifferent standards, is provided to the devices and systems, such as atelevision and a cellular phone. In order to enable decoding theplurality of video data that conforms to the different standards, thesignal processing unit ex507 of the LSI ex500 needs to conform to thedifferent standards. However, the problems of increase in the scale ofthe circuit of the LSI ex500 and increase in the cost arise with theindividual use of the signal processing units ex507 that conform to therespective standards.

In order to solve the problem, what is conceived is a configuration inwhich the decoding processing unit for implementing the moving picturedecoding method described in each of embodiments and the decodingprocessing unit that conforms to the conventional standard, such asMPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC, and VC-1 are partly shared. Ex900 in FIG. 33A showsan example of the configuration. For example, the moving picturedecoding method described in each of embodiments and the moving picturedecoding method that conforms to MPEG-4 AVC have, partly in common, thedetails of processing, such as entropy coding, inverse quantization,deblocking filtering, and motion compensated prediction. The details ofprocessing to be shared probably include use of a decoding processingunit ex902 that conforms to MPEG-4 AVC. In contrast, a dedicateddecoding processing unit ex901 is probably used for other processingunique to an aspect of the present invention. The decoding processingunit for implementing the moving picture decoding method described ineach of embodiments may be shared for the processing to be shared, and adedicated decoding processing unit may be used for processing unique tothat of MPEG-4 AVC.

Furthermore, ex1000 in FIG. 33B shows another example in that processingis partly shared. This example uses a configuration including adedicated decoding processing unit ex1001 that supports the processingunique to the present invention, a dedicated decoding processing unitex1002 that supports the processing unique to another conventionalstandard, and a decoding processing unit ex1003 that supports processingto be shared between the moving picture decoding method in the presentinvention and the conventional moving picture decoding method. Here, thededicated decoding processing units ex1001 and ex1002 are notnecessarily specialized for the processing according to the aspect ofthe present disclosure and the processing of the conventional standard,respectively, and may be the ones capable of implementing generalprocessing. Furthermore, the configuration of the present embodiment canbe implemented by the LSI ex500.

As such, reducing the scale of the circuit of an LSI and reducing thecost are possible by sharing the decoding processing unit for theprocessing to be shared between the moving picture decoding methodaccording to the aspect of the present invention and the moving picturedecoding method in conformity with the conventional standard.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The moving picture coding method and the moving picture decoding methodaccording to an implementation of the present invention can be appliedto every multimedia data, makes it possible to increase a compressionrate, and are useful as a moving picture coding method and a movingpicture decoding method in accumulation, transmission, communication,and so on performed using, for example, cellular phones, DVD devices,and personal computers.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   -   100 Moving picture coding apparatus    -   101 Orthogonal transform unit    -   102 Quantization unit    -   103 Inverse quantization unit    -   104 Inverse orthogonal transform unit    -   105 Block memory    -   106 Frame memory    -   107 Intra prediction unit    -   108 Inter prediction unit    -   109 Inter prediction control unit    -   110 Picture type determination unit    -   111 Temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit    -   112 ColPic memory    -   113 Co-located block information determination unit    -   114 Variable-length coding unit    -   200 Moving picture decoding apparatus    -   201 Variable-length decoding unit    -   202 Inverse quantization unit    -   203 Inverse orthogonal transform unit    -   204 Block memory    -   205 Frame memory    -   206 Intra prediction unit    -   207 Inter prediction unit    -   208 Inter prediction control unit    -   209 Temporal motion vector predictor calculation unit    -   210 ColPic memory

The invention claimed is:
 1. A moving picture coding method of coding acurrent block included in a current picture using a reference motionvector of a reference block included in a reference picture differentfrom the current picture, the reference block being co-located, in thereference picture, with the current block in the current picture, themoving picture coding method comprising: determining a value of apredetermined flag which indicates whether or not reference blockinformation is to be read from a memory, the reference block informationincluding, among reference motion vectors of the reference block in afirst prediction direction and a second prediction direction, thereference motion vector in the first prediction direction; reading, fromthe memory, the reference block information including the referencemotion vector according to the value of the predetermined flag; coding amotion vector of the current block using the read reference blockinformation; writing, to the memory, the reference block informationincluding the motion vector of the current block according to the valueof the predetermined flag; and adding the predetermined flag to abitstream.
 2. The moving picture coding method according to claim 1,wherein the memory includes a first storage area for storing thereference block information of the first prediction direction, and asecond storage area for storing the reference block information of thesecond prediction direction, and in the reading, when the predeterminedflag indicates ON, the reference block information including thereference motion vector is read from the first storage area, and whenthe predetermined flag indicates OFF, the reference block informationincluding the reference motion vector is read from the first storagearea and the second storage area.
 3. The moving picture coding methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the memory includes a first storage areafor storing the reference block information of the first predictiondirection, and a second storage area for storing the reference blockinformation of the second prediction direction, and in the writing, whenthe predetermined flag indicates ON, and (i) when the current blockincludes at least one reference motion vector in the first predictiondirection, the reference block information including the referencemotion vector in the first prediction direction is written to the firststorage area, and (ii) when the current block includes only thereference motion vector in the second prediction direction, thereference block information including the reference motion vector in thesecond prediction direction is written to the first storage area.
 4. Themoving picture coding method according to claim 1, wherein the memoryincludes a first storage area for storing the reference blockinformation of the first prediction direction, and a second storage areafor storing the reference block information of the second predictiondirection, and in the writing, when the predetermined flag indicatesOFF, and (i) when the current block includes the reference motion vectorin the first prediction direction, the reference block informationincluding the reference motion vector in the first prediction directionis written to the first storage area, and (ii) when the current blockincludes the reference motion vector in the second prediction direction,the reference block information including the reference motion vector inthe second prediction direction is written to the second storage area.5. The moving picture coding method according to claim 1, wherein, whenthe reference block includes two or more reference motion vectors, thecoding includes: selecting one of the two or more reference motionvectors based on whether the reference picture is located before orafter the current picture; and coding the motion vector of the currentblock using the selected reference motion vector.
 6. The moving picturecoding method according to claim 5, wherein, in the selecting, when thereference block includes a forward reference motion vector and abackward reference motion vector, and (i) when the current block islocated before the reference block, the forward reference motion vectoris selected from the forward reference motion vector and the backwardreference motion vector, and (ii) when the current block is locatedafter the reference block, the backward reference motion vector isselected from the forward reference motion vector and the backwardreference motion vector.
 7. The moving picture coding method accordingto claim 5, wherein, in the selecting, when the reference block includesone of a forward reference motion vector and a backward reference motionvector, the one of the forward reference motion vector and the backwardreference motion vector in the reference block is selected regardless ofa positional relation between the reference block and the current block.8. A moving picture decoding method of decoding a current block includedin a current picture using a reference motion vector of a referenceblock included in a reference picture different from the currentpicture, the reference block being co-located, in the reference picture,with the current block in the current picture, the moving picturedecoding method comprising: decoding a value of a predetermined flagwhich indicates whether or not reference block information is to be readfrom a memory, the reference block information including, amongreference motion vectors of the reference block in a first predictiondirection and a second prediction direction, the reference motion vectorin the first prediction direction; reading, from the memory, thereference block information including the reference motion vectoraccording to the value of the predetermined flag; decoding a motionvector of the current block using the read reference block information;and writing, to the memory, the reference block information includingthe motion vector of the current block according to the value of thepredetermined flag.
 9. The moving picture decoding method according toclaim 8, wherein the memory includes a first storage area for storingthe reference block information of the first prediction direction, and asecond storage area for storing the reference block information of thesecond prediction direction, and in the reading, when the predeterminedflag indicates ON, the reference block information including thereference motion vector is read from the first storage area, and whenthe predetermined flag indicates OFF, the reference block informationincluding the reference motion vector is read from the first storagearea and the second storage area.
 10. The moving picture decoding methodaccording to claim 9, wherein the memory includes a first storage areafor storing the reference block information of the first predictiondirection, and a second storage area for storing the reference blockinformation of the second prediction direction, and in the writing, whenthe predetermined flag indicates ON, and (i) when the current blockincludes at least one reference motion vector in the first predictiondirection, the reference block information including the referencemotion vector in the first prediction direction is written to the firststorage area, and (ii) when the current block includes only thereference motion vector in the second prediction direction, thereference block information including the reference motion vector in thesecond prediction direction is written to the first storage area. 11.The moving picture decoding method according to claim 9, wherein thememory includes a first storage area for storing the reference blockinformation of the first prediction direction, and a second storage areafor storing the reference block information of the second predictiondirection, and in the writing, when the predetermined flag indicatesOFF, and (i) when the current block includes the reference motion vectorin the first prediction direction, the reference block informationincluding the reference motion vector in the first prediction directionis written to the first storage area, and (ii) when the current blockincludes the reference motion vector in the second prediction direction,the reference block information including the reference motion vector inthe second prediction direction is written to the second storage area.12. The moving picture decoding method according to claim 9, wherein,when the reference block includes two or more reference motion vectors,the decoding includes: selecting one of the reference motion vectorsbased on whether the reference picture is located before or after thecurrent picture; and decoding the motion vector of the current blockusing the selected reference motion vector.
 13. The moving picturedecoding method according to claim 12, wherein, in the selecting, whenthe reference block includes a forward reference motion vector and abackward reference motion vector, and (i) when the current block islocated before the reference block, the forward reference motion vectoris selected from the forward reference motion vector and the backwardreference motion vector, and (ii) when the current block is locatedafter the reference block, the backward reference motion vector isselected from the forward reference motion vector and the backwardreference motion vector.
 14. The moving picture decoding methodaccording to claim 12, wherein, in the selecting, when the referenceblock includes one of a forward reference motion vector and a backwardreference motion vector, the one of the forward reference motion vectorand the backward reference motion vector in the reference block isselected regardless of a positional relation between the reference blockand the current block.
 15. A moving picture decoding method of decodinga current block included in a current picture using a reference motionvector of a reference block included in a reference picture differentfrom the current picture, the reference block being co-located, in thereference picture, with the current block in the current picture, themoving picture decoding method comprising: decoding a value of apredetermined flag which indicates whether or not reference blockinformation is to be read, the reference block information including,among reference motion vectors of the reference block in a firstprediction direction and a second prediction direction, the referencemotion vector in the first prediction direction; reading the referenceblock information including the reference motion vector according to thevalue of the predetermined flag; decoding a motion vector of the currentblock using the read reference block information; and writing thereference block information including the motion vector of the currentblock according to the value of the predetermined flag.
 16. A movingpicture coding method of coding a current block included in a currentpicture using a reference motion vector of a reference block included ina reference picture different from the current picture, the referenceblock being co-located, in the reference picture, with the current blockin the current picture, the moving picture coding method comprising:reading reference block information including, among reference motionvectors of the reference block in a first prediction direction and asecond prediction direction, only the reference motion vector in thefirst prediction direction when the reference block includes referencemotion vectors in the first prediction direction and the secondprediction direction; and coding a motion vector of the current blockusing the read reference block information.
 17. A moving picturedecoding method of decoding a current block included in a currentpicture using a reference motion vector of a reference block included ina reference picture different from the current picture, the referenceblock being co-located, in the reference picture, with the current blockin the current picture, the moving picture decoding method comprising:reading reference block information including, among reference motionvectors of the reference block in a first prediction direction and asecond prediction direction, only the reference motion vector in thefirst prediction direction when the reference block includes referencemotion vectors in the first prediction direction and the secondprediction direction; and decoding a motion vector of the current blockusing the read reference block information.